Air Pollution Ups Risk of Chronic Lung Disease: Study

A new study from Denmark says long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution could increase the risk of developing severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Previous research has found a link between high levels of air pollution and exacerbation of COPD, but this study connects long-term air pollution exposure to the development or progression of the lung disease, according to the researchers.

“Our findings have significance on a number of levels patients, primary care physicians, pulmonologists and public health officials should take note,” lead researcher Zorana Andersen, a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology of the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen, said in an American Thoracic Society news release.